My First Peoples Postcode Lottery Christmas advert shoot in the wilds of Maryhill…and it was EPIC!

Never thought I would utter those words…especially in the middle of late summer heat in September, that festive time of year eh!?

The People Postcode Lottery creative vision extraordinaire Walter Grant have been dreaming up new Christmas concepts for years, and with a never ending deep dive into this winning production formula and partnership, I was about to witness our biggest TV advert production shoot ever! Last year with the help of Artem SFX they filled an entire street with snow this time it all had to be contained within a studio – which was strangely even harder.

Everything but the kitchen sink was thrown in….fake snow, motorbike, snowmobile, campervan, Snowmen, 10 Foot Christmas Trees, props galore, Peoples Postcode Lottery Celebrity Talent, endless marketing bods and crew members all shot using an Arri Alexa Mini with a  lovely set of Cooke anamorphic lenses from our lovely friends at Progressive Broadcast.

All of the above was to be signed, sealed and delivered for set up inside a former dis-used church at the top of Maryhill in Glasgow, and ready for action in 25 degree heat…yes we can sell Christmas no matter what time of year it is… through rain, hail or shine.

Can’t say I wasn’t a little starstruck to the total professionalism of our Peoples Postcode Lottery Celebrity Ambassadors, and firmly impressed on how much of the PPL colour brand RED was to be integrated into the advert art direction!?  Team Arteus360 are still having flashbacks of transporting a white snowmobile from the South East of England to Glasgow, which was to be spray-painted red within 24 hours before the Day 1 of the shoot.   

All action stations were on point, with an iron rod schedule of festive shots to rattle through in amongst the organised chaos of a PPL Xmas advert shoot. Not content with just facilitating the filming of the commercial the snow was on standby for day 2 for the photographic stills shoot – cue the Artem SFX team all over again.

Directed by the legend Walter Grant,  produced by Heid Honcho Sharon Fullarton, edited by Valentine Douglas, graded by Harrison Jacobs, and sound design by John Cobban